Having your Facebook profile tagged by other users can be annoying, especially if it’s someone you don’t know very well or don’t want to be associated with. Fortunately, Facebook provides settings to control who can tag you in posts and photos.
What does tagging someone on Facebook actually do?
When you tag someone on Facebook, you create a link to their profile. For example, if you upload a photo and tag your friend John in it, it will say “(Your Name) with John Smith” and create a link to John’s profile.
Being tagged means the post or photo you’re tagged in may also show up on your own timeline and be visible to your friends and followers. It also creates a notification for you that you’ve been tagged.
So if you don’t want certain people creating public links to your profile or having their content show up on your own timeline, restricting who can tag you is important.
How to adjust your tag settings
Facebook allows you to limit who can tag you in three different categories:
- Posts
- Photos/Videos
- Pages
To edit your tag settings:
- Click the arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings”.
- Choose “Privacy” from the left menu.
- Click “Tags” under the “How people can find and contact you” section.
- For each category (Posts, Photos/Videos, Pages), choose who you want to be able to tag you from the dropdown menu.
You have 4 options for controlling who can tag you:
- Everyone – Anyone on Facebook can tag you
- Friends Except… – Friends can tag you, except those you exclude
- Only Friends – Only your friends can tag you
- No One – You cannot be tagged
Best tag settings for privacy
If you want the tightest control over who can tag you, choose “Only Friends” or “No One” for each category.
“Only Friends” means only people already on your friends list will be able to tag you. This prevents acquaintances, colleagues, or strangers from being able to tag you.
“No One” takes it a step further and prevents anyone, including your friends, from tagging you. This gives you complete control and is the best option if you don’t want your profile associated with any unwanted content.
Review tags people add to your content
In addition to controlling who can tag you, you can also review tags people add before they appear on Facebook:
- Go to “Settings” then “Timeline and Tagging”
- Under “Review posts you’re tagged in before the post appears on your timeline?”, choose “Enabled”
This adds an extra step where if someone does tag you, the post will not appear on your profile right away. It will be pending until you approve it.
You’ll get a notification when you’ve been tagged so you can review the content first. If you’re not comfortable with it, you can remove the tag before it goes public.
This gives you veto power over any unwanted tags, even from friends. It’s the most surefire way to keep other people from tagging your profile if you’re concerned about it.
Untag yourself from posts
If someone does tag you in an unwanted post, you can simply untag yourself:
- Go to the post where you’re tagged.
- Hover over your name in the post and click “Remove tag”.
This will disassociate you from the post without needing the other person to remove the tag themselves. The post will remain visible to whomever shared it, but your profile will no longer be linked.
Restrict a specific person from tagging you
You can take things a step further and prevent a specific person from tagging you in any future posts. Even if you allow friends to tag you, you can make an exception and block someone.
To do this:
- Go to your profile page
- In the right column click “Friends”
- Click the gear icon next to the name of the person you want to restrict and choose “Edit Privacy Settings”
- Uncheck the box next to “Can tag me”
- Click “Confirm” to save your settings
Now when that person tries to tag you, the tag will not work. This lets you isolate problematic taggers without changing settings for all your friends.
Block someone entirely from interacting with your profile
In extreme cases of unwanted tagging or harassment, you can block a person completely. This prevents them from viewing your profile, tagging you, or interacting with your content.
To block someone:
- Click the gear icon in their friend box and choose “Block”
- Select “Block User” to confirm
You can also access the block settings from your privacy shortcuts menu while browsing Facebook. Simply click the shield icon, select “How do I stop someone from bothering me?”, enter the person’s name, and click “Block”.
Blocking is the nuclear option but sometimes necessary against repeat offenders. Just know that the person will not be notified that you blocked them. Your profile will simply disappear from their view.
Prevent search engines from indexing your profile
Part of the concern around being tagged is that it can make your profile more visible in search engines like Google. Strangers can potentially find and access your profile if they search for your name.
Luckily, Facebook allows you to prevent search engine indexing with a few steps:
- Go to “Settings” and click “Privacy”
- Under “How people can find and contact you”, click “Public search”
- Toggle “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?” to “No”
This removes your profile from showing up in public search engine results. People would need to log into Facebook directly to find and view your profile.
Make your existing posts more private
All the above options deal with who can tag you going forward. But what about photos, posts, and tags people have already added to your profile?
You have a couple options for making existing content more private:
- Limit old posts – Go to “Settings”, “Privacy”, then “Limit Past Posts”. Here you can choose to limit the audience of previous posts to “Only Me”, “Friends”, or completely delete them.
- Untag old photos – For photos people previously tagged you in, go to the photo, click “Options” > “Report/Remove Tag”. Choose “Remove Tag” to untag yourself.
This helps remove previous instances where you were tagged from public view.
Make your whole account private
The most sweeping option to prevent unwanted tags and exposure is to make your entire account private. This limits access to your profile and posts unless you specifically approve someone as a friend.
To make your profile private:
- Go to “Settings” and click “Privacy”
- Under “Who can see your future posts?”, choose “Friends” or “Only Me” from the dropdown menu
When your account is private, any tags will only be visible to your approved friends list. This gives you blanket protection without having to tinker with individual settings.
The tradeoff is it limits access to your profile for peripheral contacts you may want to allow, like coworkers or old classmates. You have to be selective about who gets to see your activity.
Should you delete Facebook to avoid tags?
Deactivating your Facebook account altogether is the only 100% surefire way to prevent unwanted tags or exposure. But for most people, this seems overly drastic.
Here are some pros and cons of deleting Facebook:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| – Completely avoids unwanted tags/exposure | – Lose access to all contacts on Facebook |
| – More privacy and control over info | – Can’t participate in Facebook groups/events |
| – More time from not using social media | – Can’t share photos, news, content with friends |
| – Avoid targeted ads/data collection | – Permanently delete photos, memories, data |
For most situations, carefully adjusting your Facebook privacy settings provides sufficient protection without losing access to contacts and content you want to keep. But deactivating your account is still an option if unwanted tagging/exposure is happening extensively from many sources.
Conclusion
Here are some final tips to summarize how to prevent unwanted tags on Facebook:
- Restrict who can tag you under “Privacy Settings”
- Review tags before they appear on your timeline
- Untag yourself from posts you don’t like
- Block specific people from tagging you
- Make past posts more private
- Make your whole account private
With the customizable privacy tools Facebook provides, you can control unwanted tagging without losing access to your account and network. Carefully monitoring tags, restricting permissions, and untagging when necessary gives you options to protect your profile.